Moment of Truth
by YoukaiTajiyaSango
Summary: [IYxKaxKik Oneshot] Inuyasha has to decide between Kagome and Kikyou soon. Which one will he choose?


A/N: Konnichi wa, minna-san::grin: I know this is really clique, but my friend requested it like a YEAR ago and I'm here doing it for no reason now! Ehehe... yeah. Well I'm sorry if this really sucks, but here goes!

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Inuyasha characters. I would be rich if I did... and the series wouldn't be going anywhere. . 

A silver haired hanyou sat at the top of a large oak tree, his form relaxed. Even though you saw that his eyes were closed, you just knew that he was alert as ever. His snowy white dog ears twitched on the top of his head, listening precisely for any sound that was made.

Sniffing, he knew where his traveling companions were right away. The fox kitsune Shippou was in the hut with Kaede, sitting on the floor by the fire, licking one of the contraptions Kagome called a "lollipop." Kagome was in the garden with Kaede, helping her weed the large patch of land. Sango and Miroku were in the village, but he couldn't smell that far. They had told them earlier that they were going.

He opened his eyes suddenly, blinking. The golden orbs scanned the ground below him as another scent wafted towards him. Grunting, he jumped down from the tree and landed gracefully on his feet. He sniffed again, looking around. Finally he started to walk, going towards the smell he knew so well –

Kikyou.

The dead Miko was a little farther away, at the Goshinboku. He was running fast, faster than he knew he did in battles. His heart was pounding in his chest, going _doki-doki_ over and over again. Sweat beaded on his forehead as he finally reached the clearing at where the dead lady was standing.

Slowly she turned, so slowly it made him want to jump over to her and force her to do so more quickly. When his eyes locked on hers, though, they made sudden connection and his body froze. He couldn't move at all as her soul collectors came by her, filling her body with dead souls of girls. He watched her, and she watched him.

She took a breath, and started to walk over to him. He glared, wanting to step back, but also wanting to go forward more and take her into his arms. This sudden urge surprised him, and he looked down. 'What about Kagome?' He thought as she got closer. Finally, her cold hands touched his face and he sucked in a deep breath of air.

"Kikyou." He greeted coldly, trying to keep emotion out of his voice. A wind arose and blew around some leaves, throwing the green buds around Kikyou. She looked like a heavenly goddess in his eyes, her cold brown eyes taking his body in. She smiled her ghastly smile, looking quite mysterious.

"Inu...yasha." She said, making his name sound like two words instead of one. She looked at him sadly, and he wondered what she was going to say next. "What are you doing here?"

"What am I doing here?" He said to her, moving her hands off of his face. "I was going to ask you that exact same question." He stepped back two steps, making some space between them. His heart was still beating loudly, drowning everything out.

She looked at him, again with the same haunted shadow of a smile alighting her face. "I died here, Inuyasha. My soul can't help but wander back here, revisiting the old memories." At the last two words, she closed the space that he had created.

Suddenly she threw herself against him, and he made a sort of "oof" sound as he felt her body collide with his. "My time is running out, Inuyasha. I must return to the realm of the dead soon. Please... come with me?" She asked him quietly, facing him again. "Please."

The hanyou glared at her. "I can't do that. I still have to stay here, defeat Naraku... I'm living, Kikyou. I have tasks to do in this world. You are fully aware of that." He told her.

"I thought you loved me." She said, a tear rolling down her cheek. "Do you really love that... otherworldly girl more than me? She is only a reincarnation of me. She cannot be me... she cannot love you! I love you more, Inuyasha."

"That's not the topic here!" He replied hotly, wondering fleetingly why she was bringing up an absurd topic like this. "Why are you talking about this? You were talking earlier about taking me with you. I can't – won't! Not until I finish everything I want to. Then I can decide whether I want to go with you."

She looked at him. "Inuyasha... you used to be so cold, so untrusting. So... unloving. I wanted to open you up, grow old with you, love you, have you love me back. That hasn't changed." She touched her chest. "That hasn't changed, and the emotions and feelings are still here." She wiped the lingering tear away. "I love you so much. Come with me."

He watched her, suddenly feeling pity and helplessness. He hugged her tightly, closing his eyes. "Kikyou..." He said, inhaling her graveyard soil and dead scent. "I can't go with you. Not yet. But... I do... love you. I do."

A rustle was heard in the bushes, and Kagome came out behind them. "I-Inuyasha..." she said. He was evidently surprised, and it showed in his expression. "Why didn't you... you t-t-tell me! Why not?" She glared at him, lifting up her sleeve and wiping away angry and hurt tears from her face.

Inuyasha's head whirled with all the different scents of the girls and the tears, but wondered how they could be so alike from two different people. "Kagome..." He muttered, holding his hand up to his head. "Kikyou. This has to end. This has to end _now_. I'm going to choose one of you tonight. I can't take this anymore."

Both girls looked shocked, but one nodded after the other. "Fine, then." Kikyou said, a smirk playing on her beautiful features. "We shall see who you pick tonight. Until then..." Soul collectors surrounded her, lifting her up into the blue sky. It was only midday, and he had the rest of it to think.

"Meet me here tonight." He said slowly, wondering if this was the right choice. Kagome looked at him, and then he knew that he had to go back to Kaede's with her. "Fine, I'm going, I'm going..." he muttered, and they both started to walk.

When they reached the hut again, Inuyasha sat in the corner. It was now dinnertime, and he still hadn't decided. 'Grr... which one, which one?' He thought angrily. 'How am I supposed to decide?'

"This sucks." He muttered, and Kaede looked up at him.

"Pardon me?" She asked him, and Inuyasha's ears perked up. "You said something."

"Uhh... I... no I didn't." He said, glancing at Kagome, who looked at him with a glare filled with venom. Her eyes practically SAID 'sit'. He gulped, hoping he said the right thing.

Shippou, Miroku and Sango watched the other two, wondering what was wrong. "Houshi-sama, please meet me outside once you're done." Sango whispered in his ear, and excused herself and left through the tatami mat that shielded the door from the outside weather.

It was chilly, a sort of night where you knew something was going to happen, but most of them didn't know what. She shivered, going out over to a small hill and climbing it. She reached the top and sat down, sighing. She daydreamed for a few minutes, until the monk came up behind her and sat down.

He smiled. "So, Sango, what did you want to talk to me about?" He asked her. She glared at him, then turned back to face the oncoming stars that showered the sky, alighting it.

"Nothing... in particular." She said, playing with a flower in her hands. Their hair waved in the wind, and she brushed some behind her ear. "Did you see anything... different about Kagome-chan and Inuyasha?" She asked him, blinking.

Miroku sighed. "Yes, actually. It seems they have a... problem. Or so I think. I wonder if Inuyasha saw... Kikyou-sama today? And maybe Kagome-sama spotted them together? That would explain the tense atmosphere.

"Again, this is how Kagome-sama always reacts when Inuyasha sees Kikyou-sama. Although she hasn't gone back to her own time, stomping and complaining. Which is good, because then we won't have to go through the whole dragging her back from her time and Inuyasha's grumbling." He finished.

"True. But... what if... something's going to happen?" She inquired, setting her head on her hands. Miroku blinked, but then smiled again.

"Don't worry about it. Everything will be fine." He told her, pushing her head so it lay on his shoulder. She smiled, closing her eyes.

"I hope so."

Inuyasha was running again through the forest for the second time that day, jumping through tree branches and going through bushes. He reached the indicated spot, with the other two girls waiting.

"About time, Inuyasha." Kikyou said, and looked at Kagome with contempt. Her eyes were slits of hatred, and she looked like she hoped to bore a hole into her head. "Have you decided?"

Kagome, on the other hand, was looking down and very quiet. She hadn't said anything, which made Inuyasha worry a little. 'Something's wrong with her.' He thought, blinking. "Yeah. I did." He looked at the two girls.

'They look... so... different.' He thought, taking in a deep breath. "I've chosen... Kagome." Kikyou's eyes widened, and they shot at Kagome.

"What do you mean, Kagome? I thought you loved me." She said, tears running down her face slowly. "Inuyasha... Inuyasha. You said you would come with me after your tasks here were done in this world. You said you would die with me... and stay with me forever."

Inuyasha had moved over to where a shocked Kagome was standing. "Inuyasha!" she kept saying, and it was getting on his nerves a little bit. "Kikyou, notice the past tense. Kikyou... you're dead. You're dead, and I can't die whenever I wish to. Kikyou, I belong in this world... and you don't."

Kagome was still saying "Inuyasha!" quietly, and he put his hand over her mouth. "Be quiet for a second!" he muttered, and she nodded. He looked back at Kikyou. "I loved you. I really did, I promise. But I won't go with you. I have to protect Kagome now."

Kikyou smiled slightly, really smiling this time. His eyes widened, watching her image. More soul collectors came once again to take her. As she started to depart, she looked down at him. "Inuyasha... know this, and keep it in your heart. I will always love you – now from afar. I hope... our paths cross again."

With a light, she was gone and little bubbles were floating on a path. Kagome smiled up at him and hugged him. "Inuyasha... thank you. Now SIT, SIT, SIT!" She yelled, and he fell over.

"What the heck! Why'd you do THAT?" He yelled, forcing himself up with a grunt. He growled as Kagome muttered another "sit" incantation.

"I did it for making me worry! And for totally ignoring me all day! And... and because... I love you back." She helped him up as soon as the spell wore off, and he smirked.

"Glad I chose you, then. Just don't come back as a raging spirit and make me do this again..." He said, following her back to camp.

"Maybe I will. It'll be fun then, won't it?" She asked, stopping. He looked at her, and she said, "Inuyasha, please... please kiss me."

His smirk widened as he leaned down, his lips touching hers. They stayed that way for a few minutes, and then continued their way back to Kaede's hut.

"Don't tell anyone about this, okay?"

"Alright."

A/N: ...okay... so they're totally OOC. And they suck, and Inuyasha sounds like Ranma. Almost. But whatever, I felt like doing a one-shot. :grin: Yay. And it's a different couple, too! Well, please R&R.

Sango-


End file.
